Characteristics of neurogenic bowel in spinal cord injury and perceived quality of life.

Purpose: To investigate the association between characteristics of individuals with spinal cord injury and neurogenic bowel and their perceived quality of life.

Design/methods: The study design is an exploratory, descriptive correlational design. To measure the variables of the study the Quality of Life Survey developed by Randell et al.

The SCIRehab project: treatment time spent in SCI rehabilitation. Nursing bedside education and care management time during inpatient spinal cord injury rehabilitation.

Background: Nurses are an integral part of the spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation team and provide significant education to the patient and family about the intricacies of living with SCI, as well as help manage the care process.

Objective: This is the second in a series of reports by clinical nursing leaders involved in the SCIRehab research project, a multi-center, 5-year study to record and analyze details of SCI inpatient rehabilitation, with focus on descriptions of time spent by nurses on bedside education and care management.

Methods: Six hundred patients with traumatic SCI were enrolled at six rehabilitation centers.

SCIRehab Project series: the supplemental nursing taxonomy.

Context: Spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation nurses document the occurrence of educational and care management efforts in traditional nursing documentation methods but not the intensity (or dose) of such interactions. This article describes a process to capture these nursing interventions.

Methods: Nurses at 6 US inpatient SCI centers used 2 in-person meetings and weekly telephone calls over 9 months to develop a taxonomy of nursing patient education efforts and care management.

The right to die--ethical dilemmas in persons with spinal cord injury.

The right to die can be a controversial topic, and health care workers in the rehabilitation setting may find themselves in the center of this heated debate. This article presents a case study of a patient with tetraplegia, Daniel, and his choices regarding life and death. The case study will be examined through the use of ethical principles as well as from a legal standpoint.

Analytical characterization of electrochemical biosensor test strips for measurement of glucose in low-volume interstitial fluid samples.

Background: Minimally invasive interstitial fluid (ISF) sampling and glucose measurement technologies were integrated into a hand-held device for diabetic glucose monitoring investigations.

Methods: Conventional electrochemical test strip technology (Bayer Glucometer Elite) was adapted to measure glucose in small (0.5-2.